The Lawyers' Committee actively seeks out and prosecutes cases involving race and national origin discrimination claims. We have a track record of successful class action litigation.
The Lawyers' Committee brings discrimination litigation in the areas of employment, housing, voting rights, racial violence, hate crimes, police abuse and misconduct, education, and more. |
|
EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
Employment discrimination litigation has always been at the forefront of the Lawyers' Committee's work. The Committee has brought both class actions and individual cases to challenge the discriminatory practices of public and private employers. We seek to send the message that discriminatory treatment carries a high price. Typical cases include failures to hire or promote due to race or national origin, retaliatory dismissals following complaints, and the arbitrary use of “English only” rules.
1978 Castro v. Beecher, NAACP v. Beecher
Defended consent decrees setting forth affirmative action goals based on previous challenge to discriminatory hiring practices by police and fire departments in various communities including Boston. There are now hundreds of police officers and firefighters in Massachusetts who are people of color.
1998 Thornton v. Amtrak
Class action case prosecuted with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee. Case was brought on behalf of a class of black track workers in Amtrak’s northeast corridor, alleging systematic racial discrimination in hiring, training, promotion, and discipline, and was settled in 2000 by a federal consent decree requiring long term institutional changes and a $16 million settlement fund.
TOP
POLICE MISCONDUCT AND COMBATING RACIAL VIOLENCE
The Project To Combat Racial Violence was established in 1982 to address the crisis of racial violence in Boston and surrounding communities. Our legal work takes a variety of forms: acting as the victim’s advocate if the assailant is prosecuted, filing a civil suit for compensation, obtaining an injunction against the perpetrator, and obtaining criminal defense representation where needed. We help victims report cases and ensure adequate police investigation. We represent victims at clerk-magistrate’s hearings, which are often required in order for criminal charges to issue. The Lawyers’ Committee also prosecutes cases of police misconduct. In Bennett v. City of Boston, we represented the family and former girlfriend of Willie Bennett, who was wrongfully implicated by the Boston Police as the murderer of the pregnant Carol Stuart. We also represented a 16-year old African American youth whose kneecap was broken by police during an “investigative stop.” When two taxicab drivers were attacked by a group of belligerent white males, one assailant turned out to be an off-duty police officer who then ordered the arrest of his victim.
TOP
FAIR HOUSING
Our fair housing representation covers almost every aspect of the quest for equal housing opportunities – refusals to rent or sell, “red-lining” and other discriminatory practices by lenders, second mortgage/home improvement abuses targeting the communities of color, and discriminatory policies of housing authorities or governmental programs. The Committee undertakes major law reform litigation as well as representation of individual victims of housing discrimination. 1996. Jane Doe v. Boston Housing Authority
On behalf of 14 families of color, the Committee filed housing discrimination complaints against the Boston Housing Authority for its failure to protect them from chronic racially motivated violence and harassment at BHA housing developments. In 1999, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development made its first-ever finding of "systemic discrimination" against the BHA. A companion federal court class action resulted in a $1.5 million settlement and a complete overhaul of policies and procedures.
1995. Tenants v. Fall River Housing Authority
On behalf of Cambodian tenants, the Committee and the Asian American Legal Defense Fund sued the Fall River Housing Authority for protection against racial violence by other tenants of the Authority. After a year of negotiations, the case was settled by a consent decree that has been used as a model for consent decrees in trainings on housing discrimination.
1992. Culbreath v. BayBanks
A comprehensive settlement with BayBanks resolved allegations that its indirect home improvement financing program violated consumer protection and civil rights laws. The settlement, involving the Massachusetts Attorney General, provides that BayBanks will make $5 million available for below market-rate home improvement loans, and $6 million for new low-income housing.
1988 NAACP v. Boston Housing Authority
This class action lawsuit alleged that people of color applying for public housing were being denied housing in predominantly white developments. The settlement provided housing opportunities to those previously denied, revised tenant selection procedures, and awarded money damages and set up a Community Benefit Fund.
The Committee also fights predatory lending, which is most prevalent within the communities of color in Greater Boston. Unscrupulous “sub-prime” lenders have targeted communities of color in Massachusetts and around the country for high interest, high fee loans often through fraud and misrepresentation. Community education, individual representation, and impact litigation are key components of this project.
TOP
VOTING RIGHTS
The right to vote has been called the “crown jewel” of American liberties. The Committee has actively worked to enhance this right since the mid-1970’s. Our goal is to allow all Massachusetts voters the opportunity to fully participate in the democratic process and to elect representatives of their choice. We have successfully challenged state and municipal voting district plans under the Constitutional principle of “one person, one vote” as well as under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Other litigation has concerned election department record-keeping and placement of referenda questions on the ballot. The Committee voting rights work is non-partisan.
TOP
EDUCATION
The Committee is active statewide in the struggle for equal education opportunities. In 1972 we filed the historic Boston school desegregation case. Successful desegregation lawsuits have also been brought in Holyoke and Lowell.
We have helped parent groups enforce bilingual education requirements to ensure equal educational opportunities for students whose primary language is not English. The Committee has filed bilingual education lawsuits in over a dozen Massachusetts communities.
For 15 years we participated as co-counsel in representing public school children and their parents in a landmark lawsuit challenging the state’s system of public school financing. The case established the principle that children are entitled to equal educational opportunities regardless of the relative wealth of their community.
1993 McDuffy v. Robertson
This case challenged the public school finance system in Massachusetts. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying that the Massachusetts Constitution mandates that education is a fundamental right. Case resulted in the passing of the Education Reform Act of 1993.
1972-1974 Morgan v. Hennigan
The Boston public schools desegregation case. Federal courts ordered the school system to desegregate in 1974, a decision upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
TOP
INDIVIDUALS REPRESENTATION
In addition to these activities, a crucial part of the Committee’s mission is to make legal services available to individuals who are unable to pay for them. Many of the Committee’s clients are women of color: single parents who must often raise their children under severe economic hardship. By drawing on the resources of member law firms, law schools and civic organizations, the Committee each year provides dozens of low-income citizens with access to some of the best legal talent available.
TOP |
